World Bank and IMF urge US and China tode-escalate trade dispute to avoid lasting damage to global economy.

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Rescue and relief operations are underway in fullswing in the cyclone Titli hit coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. In, Andhra Pradesh, Srikakulam is the most affected district. Twopersons were killed due to rain related incidents in the state. As the cyclonicstorm is moving towards West Bengal heavy to normal rain is expected inSrikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. Fishermen have been advised not toventure into the sea.

Meanwhile, the very severe cyclonic storm Titli hitthe coast early this morning at South Gopalpur of Odisha and near Palasa ofSrikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh. The cyclonicstorm disrupted normal life in Gajapati, Ganjam and Rayagada districts ofOdisha. The district administration is clearing the roads with the help ofODRAF, NDRF and Fire services units. The NationalDisaster Response Force, NDRF has deployed teams in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh andWest Bengal along with necessary rescue equipments.

More than 3 lakh people have been shifted tomultipurpose cyclonic shelters at different places in the state. Chief MinisterShri Navin Patnaik has reviewed the situation and directed to take all relief and rescuemeasures on war footing. Talkingto AIR Ramesh Kumar Nayak, from MeT office Bhubaneswar said, during next twelvehours it will move North west and onwards:

"During next 12 hours it willmove North-Westwards and afterwards it will recur to North-Eastwards and movealong the Odisha Coast and reach to the West Bengal coast. And during the next12 hours heavy to very heavy rain and sometimes extreme rainfall in coastalOdisha and South Odisha and South interior Odisha.

Our correspondent reports that all educationalinstitutes have been closed till tomorrow.

"After hitting Odisha cost nearGopalpur in Odisha the severe cyclonic storm Titily is now moving towards WestBengal in North-East direction over Odisha. Gradually it is weakening.Extremely heavy rainfall has been recorded over some places in Coastal Odishathis morning. Bhubaneswar has also received heavy rainfall last night. In themeantime the Central Government has assured the State Government that all helpincluding service of Army may be provided if required. All India Radio is alsobroadcasting special bulletins and phone-in programs from Cuttack to inform thepeople about the latest situation. This is Sudhansu Dhada for AIR fromBhubaneswar."

President Ram Nath Kovind in a tweet said that theentire nation is with the affected people and said local authorities and reliefagencies will rise to occasion to help fellow citizens.

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Sant Rampal, the controversial head of the SatlokAshram in Haryana, was convicted in two separate cases of murder today. Rampalwas convicted by Hisar court on charges of murder in a 2006 case relating tothe death of a woman supporter. Rampal was also convicted on the charges ofmurder in a 2014 case that dealt with the deaths of four women and a child.Theverdict was pronounced at the Hisar Central Jail through makeshift court viavideo conference. A total of 23 people, including Rampal, have been convictedin the two cases. The quantum of punishment will be announced separately inboth the cases on Tuesday and Wednesday . Rampal was arrested on November 19,2014 after thousands of security personnel laid siege to the Satlok Ashram.Rampal's followers had resisted previous attempts by police to arrest him.Meanwhile,the Haryana Police fortified Hisar with the deployment of 1,800 policemen aheadof the court verdict against self-styled godman Sant Rampal.

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The Enforcement Directorate today attachedproperties worth about 54 crore rupees belonging to Karti Chidambaram, son offormer Union Minister P. Chidambaram. They include movable and immovable assetsin India and abroad. The ED crackdown comes as part of the ongoinginvestigation into the INX Media case. However, Mr Karti Chidambaram has termedthe development as bizarre. He said in a tweet that the attachment of theassets cannot stand a judicial scrutiny.

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NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said technologicaldisruption will impact traditional manufacturing, employment and economies.Speaking at the inaugural session of Annual International G20 Conference in NewDelhi, Mr Kant said, the G-20 countries must lead the change and find the rightmix between innovation and development. He said, new job opportunities have tobe created to meet the global challenges in several areas. Mr Kant added thatyouths must be skilled as the country is facing shortage of skilled people andpitched for changes in the educational system.

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Supreme Court was informed today by Amrapali groupthat nine of its properties in Noida, Greater Noida, Rajgir and Buxar in Biharhave been sealed. This has been done in compliance with the court's order. A benchof Justices U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud asked the Amrapali group to file anundertaking with regard to sealing of its properties by today afternoon. Thebench also sought presence of two forensic auditors Ravi Bhatia and Pawan KumarAggarwal to ascertain their satisfaction with regard to the documents to beaudited.

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This is All India Radio, giving you the News. Forquick News s round the clock, follow us on our twitter handle @airnewss. You can also log onto our website newsonair.nic.in

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Paristoday on a three-day visit to France. Officials sources said Ms Sitharaman willhold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways todeepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and also deliberate onmajor regional and global issues of mutual interest. In their talks, both theleaders are expected to deliberate on joint production of military platformsand weapons by the two countries.During French President Emmanuel Macron'svisit to India in March this year, the two countries decided to expandstrategic ties and deepen counter-terror cooperation. The two sides also inkeda strategic pact providing for the use of each other's military facilitiesincluding opening naval bases to warships.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has left forDushanbe to participate in the two-day meet of the Council of Heads ofGovernment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO in Tajikistanbeginning today. A desk report:

"The Council of Heads ofGovernment is a forum that enables India to engage with SCO member countriesand Observer states of Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. It is the firstmajor meeting since Kyrgyzstan took over as chair of the Organisation. Theleaders will be discussing prospects for further development of the SCO andwill exchange in-depth views on current international and regional issues.India became a full member of SCO in 2017.Tripti Srivastava, News Desk."

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The heads of the World Bank and IMF today urged theUS and China to follow world trade rules and de-escalate a dispute overBeijing's technology development strategy that threatens to do lasting damageto the global economy. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the InternationalMonetary Fund, advised Beijing and Washington to cool down and fix aspects ofthe world trading system that need fixing and not to break it. Lagarde andWorld Bank President Jim Yong Kim spoke separately on the sidelines of thelenders' annual meeting in a resort zone of the tropical Indonesian island ofBali. The event brings together finance ministers and central bankers from manyeconomies .Earlier in the week, the IMF downgraded its global economic outlook,forecasting growth will be 3.7 per cent this year rather than its earlierestimate for 3.9 per cent.

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In Jammu & Kashmir, two terrorists were killed inan encounter in Kupwara district. Theoperation was launched on a tip off last evening in Shah Gund area of Handwara.After a lull of several hours, fighting had resumed this morning. Oneslained terrorist has been identified as M.A Nan wani, a research scholarturned Hizbul Mujaadin commander. The identity of other terrorist is still being ascertained. Meanwhile, in yetanother incidence of ceasefire along the Line of Control, Pakistan forces’resorted to mortar shelling in Poonch district last night which left an Armyjawan injured. The troops guarding the borderline retaliated effectively as theintermittent exchange of fire lasted around two hours.

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The Income Tax Department searched media baron RaghavBahl's home and office today in connection with a case of alleged tax evasion.According to officials, a team of I-T sleuths raided Bahl's premises in Noidaearly morning in connection with the evidence related to a case of bogus longterm capital gains received by various beneficiaries. Apart from Bahl, threeother beneficiaries J Lalwani, Anoop Jain and Abhimanyu, were also searched aspart of the same case. Officials said, their business links to offshoreentities are being investigated. Bahl is the founder of the Quint news portaland the Network-18 group.

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The Supreme Court today agreed to hear tomorrow anappeal challenging the West Bengal government's decision to grant 10,000 rupeeseach to puja committees in the state for Durga Puja celebrations. A benchheaded by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was apprised that the Calcutta High Courtyesterday had refused to interfere with the Mamata Banerjee government'sdecision to grant money to Puja committees in the state.

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Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu hasexpressed serious concern over the increasing emission from lighting and hasasked the industry to work out an effective solution to reduce it. Hesaid, introduction of LED is a majortransformation and assured the government's support to the industry.Mr Prabhuwas speaking at a function after jointly inaugurating a three-day Light IndiaExhibition with Science and Technology Minister Dr. Harshvardhan in New Delhitoday.

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The International Day of the Girl is being observedtoday. This day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girlsface, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their humanrights. In his message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres asked everyone torecommit to supporting every girl to develop her skills, enter the workforce onequal terms and reach her full potential.In her message on the occasion, Womenand Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said that in the four years sinceits inception, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has progressed tremendously by bringingabout a change in people's mindset. Ms Gandhi reaffirmed government'scommitment to provide every girl child an environment that will enable the girlchild to reach her full potential. More from our correspondent:

"The theme this year is WithHer: A Skilled Girl Force. Today's generation of girls are preparing to enter aworld of work that is being transformed by innovation and automation. Educatedand skilled workers are in great demand, but roughly a quarter of young people,most of them female, are currently neither employed nor in education ortraining. Of the 600 million adolescent girls that will enter the workforce inthe next decade, more than 90 percent of those living in developing countrieswill work in the informal sector, where low or no pay, abuse and exploitationare common. Today marks the beginning of a year-long effort to bring togetherpartners and stakeholders to advocate for, and draw attention and investmentsto, the most pressing needs and opportunities for girls to attain skills foremployability. With Mohamed Naseem, Suparna Saikia, AIR News, Delhi."

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Domestic stocks today declined more than one andhalf percent in afternoon trade amid tumble in global share markets. Sensex atthe Bombay Stock Exchange plunged 544 points or 1.55 percent to 34,217. TheNifty at the National Stock Exchange also declined 164 points or 1.53 percentto 10,296. However, the rupee, in afternoon deals, at the forex marketappreciated six paise to 74 rupees 14 paise against the US dollar.

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Inland Waterways Authority of India has started anew Roll on-Roll off facility in collaboration with the Assam government forMajuli Island district today. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flaggedoff the Ro-Ro Service. He said that it would help the people of Majuli.